BlockBefore

Sterling, Oklahoma

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Northeast Comanche census division. It lies in ZIP code area 73541. The Survey maps it on the Fletcher quadrangle. 668 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,230 feet above sea level.

Sterling within Comanche County

Population over time

2 figures

Sterling fell from 793 to 668 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010793
2020668-125 (-16%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

13 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Sterling between 2000 and 2019, burning about 322 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Debris and open burning3
Arson/incendiarism2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
29 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined100 acresAnadarko AgencyLUMPIE
16 August 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAnadarko AgencyBETHEL ROAD
4 July 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAnadarko AgencyTHE PLAYER
9 May 2004Debris and open burning1.0 acresAnadarko AgencyREECE
31 May 2004Debris and open burning65 acresAnadarko AgencySTICKMAN
4 March 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresAnadarko AgencyTOEMIESTER
1 March 2008Arson/incendiarism93 acresAnadarko AgencyWEATHDACHKOAH
26 February 2019Arson/incendiarism4.5 acresAnadarko AgencySOUTH STERLING

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Comanche County

Storms near this place

41 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sterling in 41 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 30 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2012Thunderstorm WindSterling$210,000Wind damage was also reported in the area with several power poles snapped at ground level and damage to many cars and residential roofs. A large cell tower toppled on the east side of Lawton. Monetary damages are estimated.
November 1998Thunderstorm WindSterling$25,000no account filed
August 1998LightningSterling$10,000no account filed
May 2009Thunderstorm WindSterling$7,000Numerous tree limbs and power lines were downed around Sterling. Monetary damages were estimated.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindSterling$6,000Several 6 to 8 inch diameter tree limbs down.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindSterling$6,000Four power poles snapped at base.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSterling$2,000A tree and power pole blown down near the intersection of Northeast 165th Street and Northeast Cline Road. Time is radar estimated.
June 2025HailSterling-The report was relayed through mPING.
June 2023HailSterling-Time is radar estimated.
April 2020Tornado (EFU)Sterling-A tornado developed in far eastern Comanche County east of Sterling, just west of the Grady County line. The tornado produced no known damage in Comanche County before moving quickly into Grady County.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindSterling-Four and five inch diameter tree limbs down at Sterling High School.
April 2023HailSterling-no account filed
June 2022HailSterling-no account filed
May 2020HailSterling-no account filed
April 2020HailSterling-no account filed
April 2020HailSterling-no account filed
October 2019HailSterling-no account filed
May 2013HailSterling-no account filed
May 2013HailSterling-no account filed
May 2013HailSterling-no account filed
May 2013HailSterling-no account filed
May 2012HailSterling-no account filed
March 2009HailSterling-no account filed
March 2009HailSterling-no account filed
May 2009HailSterling-no account filed
October 2008HailSterling-no account filed
October 2008HailSterling-no account filed
April 2007HailSterling-no account filed
May 2005HailSterling-no account filed
June 2005HailSterling-no account filed
May 2001Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
May 2001Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
May 2001HailSterling-no account filed
April 2000HailSterling-no account filed
May 1999HailSterling-no account filed
June 1998HailSterling-no account filed
June 1997HailSterling-no account filed
April 1996HailSterling-no account filed
October 1996HailSterling-no account filed
June 1994HailSterling-no account filed
July 1994HailSterling-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Comanche County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Mount View3.2 miles13
Fletcher6.3 miles13
Elgin6.7 miles14
Coxs Corner8.1 miles12
Lake Ellsworth Addition9.9 miles14
Cove Acres10.4 miles14
Bethel10.8 miles12
Ridley11.4 miles16

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on SterlingAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3447728The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1098522. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.